2012 Puligny Montrachet Les Clavoillons

The 2012 Puligny-Montrachet 1er Cru Les Clavoillon comes from a 0.50-hectare plot close to Les Pucelles. It has a light, chalky bouquet that is understated, pretty and mineral with hints of limestone and oyster shell emerging in time, but refraining from mustering the intensity one might expect. The palate is crisp and lively on the entry with lovely touches of white peach, apricot and quince struck through with a fine line of acidity. This is one of Alain’s prettiest 2012s this year: elegant and refined. Alain Chavy’s wines have not been reviewed in The Wine Advocate before, but having followed the wines for a number of years, it was time to address that omission. His winery is tucked away behind his house just a minute’s walk from the center square in Puligny, one of the very few to boast an underground cellar, which is usually impossible due to the high water table. Alain told me that he started in 1985 with father and brother Jean-Louis, at Domaine Gerard Chavy et Fils. His father retired in 1997 and five years later the two brothers separated the holdings. Alain farms around 7-hectares of vines, exclusively white in Puligny and St. Aubin. He stopped using herbicides in 2009 and naturally harvests by hand. After a 24-hour clarification the wines are transferred into barrel, employing 25% new oak for the village crus and up to 30% for the premier for 12 months. “There was dramatic hail in 2012,” he remarked, echoing so many other vignerons. “It particularly affected En Remilly, Les Champs Gain and Les Folatieres, so that they all were cropped at around 18 hectoliters per hectare. The problem was that the hail fell diagonally, which caused immense damage. We harvested the fruit between September 20 and 25.” Importer: Diageo Chateau & Estate (US) and through Berry Brothers & Rudd, Howard Ripley and others in UK.